First, let me get this out of the way in which: I haven’t got a bone to choose with my cheese brisco. Quite the opposite, the truth is.
Round this time final 12 months, I had the chance to interview Briscoe for the primary time, and I walked away from our dialog so impressed by his sincerity, humility, and keenness for his job as the driving force of Automobile #14. Stewart-Haas Racing stronghold.
I used to be additionally grateful that Briscoe — who had change into a father for the primary time only a few months in the past — appeared actually amused and stated he might deal with the mess in our home when our smoke detector went off in the course of the cellphone interview, forcing me to complete the dialog exterior (by the way in which, it was That is the primary time in practically 20 years as a journalist.)
So my compliments to Briscoe for being sport and, as I can finest say, a devoted competitor and a good all-round human being. The respect and private affinity I’ve for Briscoe would not make him Eligible for a multi-year contract extension However he acquired it final week from Stewart-Haas Racing.
And in a second, you will discover out why.
Chase Briscoe’s 2022 season, whereas bettering, has not been a murals
as a newbie NASCAR cup sequence driver 2021, Chase Briscoe He struggled onerous – as learners so usually do – to run up entrance with any diploma of consistency.
However Briscoe’s struggles had been greater than a aspect impact of the inevitable rising pains that include the bounce from the NASCAR Xfinity Collection to the NASCAR Cup Collectiona bounce Briscoe made out of 2020 to 2021.
The tough actuality is that Briscoe has shocked the present as a World Cup newcomer, posting no high 5 and scoring simply three high 10s in 36 begins on the way in which to twenty third.Analysis and improvement– Finish level. That is regardless of competing for considered one of Stewart-Haas Racing’s high Cup Collection groups and driving a automotive—the No. 14 SHR machine—that his boss, Tony Stewart, drove to a Cup Collection championship in 2011 and 16 NASCAR premiere wins earlier than handing the wheel to Clint Bowyer in 2017.
He was very poor Briscoe’s first-year efficiency As an entrant in NASCAR’s high division, he led solely 18 of the 8,872 laps he accomplished. Clearly, these sorts of numbers – in the event that they change into a sample – will not reduce the long-term mustard in SHR, so Briscoe goes into the 2022 season needing an enormous enchancment…or else.
Effectively, Briscoe’s efficiency has improved in 2022. However was that actually sufficient to benefit a multi-year contract extension that will, in all probability, embody a big pay improve?
Stewart-Haas Racing didn’t have to simply accept the re-signing of Chase Briscoe
The 2022 Cup Collection season began with a bang for Chase Briscoe as he walked out of the gate with a top-3 end on the Daytona 500.
Then, over the following a number of weeks, Briscoe continued to impress, even scoring a Cup Collection #1 win in convincing vogue at Phoenix Raceway in March.
However by the point spring and summer season rolled round, Briscoe started performing with a really mediocre and at occasions downright weak clip that was paying homage to his rookie season. How unhealthy is Brisco? From mid-April by way of mid-September, it scored each single high 10 end and dropped to 18thy so as.
Briscoe himself acknowledged this droop on a name with reporters following final week’s announcement of a contract extension.
“It is no secret that we began the season robust final 12 months, and over the summer season it wasn’t there besides for 2 or three races, after which qualifying went again to the place we had been firstly of the 12 months,” Briscoe stated. “So, I really feel like 99.9 % of this was me and I did not accumulate races. good collectively. If I had a Fifteenth-place automotive that day, I would attempt to win the race with a Fifteenth-place automotive, and at that stage, it would not try this.”
This can be a pretty easy admission that begs an apparent query: Does Briscoe actually deserve a multi-year contract extension with SHR, one of many Cup Collection’ high organizations?
As Briscoe alluded to within the assertion above, he turned the nook considerably in qualifying, and – largely as a result of different drivers’ misfortune – someway managed to make it to Spherical of 8. However of the 16 unique playoff drivers, just one completed the season with fewer high 10 drivers than Briscoe. And that lone driver — rookie Austin Cindrick — greater than made up for his dearth of top-10 finishes by successful the Daytona 500.
So are Briscoe’s modest enhancements from 12 months one to 12 months two within the Cup actually sufficient to justify extending his contract? In all probability not, particularly when you concentrate on it Ross ChastainAnd Daniel Suarezand Alex Bowman are all coming into into contracts with their organizations and may very well be accessible for SHR previous to the 2024 season.
Sure, SHR nonetheless has one and possibly even two seats to fill for 2024, even with Briscoe re-signed, however Briscoe’s numbers over two seasons within the Cup Collection recommend the corporate is led by the three-time Cup Collection champion Tony Stewart He might have achieved quite a bit higher.